My personal relationship with the industrial environment began in revitalized warehouses in the late 1990s. I painted under the protection of functional architecture, I was working on the painterly formulation of the environment. Industrial architecture as a function-centered, unadorned geometric medium not only provided protection and impulse-free tranquility, but its metaphysics permeated my images. Its strong character traits—just as the nervous system and muscles developed at a young age—defined my later series of paintings.
In recent years, I have combined movement, time, and the phenomenon of non-place with the metaphorical use of the road and then the bridge. After many years of insecurity caused by immigration, in the new environment, the industrial landscape greeted me once again and became the source of my visual thoughts. As soon as pictures emerged from these thoughts, I knew I was home again.
I started a project in 2020 by finding a new source material and medium to work with. I found a raw plywood sheathing and started printing uniquely selected compositions directly on the wood by keeping its patterns visible at the same time, inviting them to interfere with the image. The trashed plywood sheets with their natural patterns showing up as repetitions of ornaments on the surface made perfect backgrounds for the motion based work I’ve been dealing with.
The second series I printed on plywood I call “Light works Terminal”, it’s a series of photos of oil tanks I've made in NorthEast Philadelphia and along the Delaware River. It caught me especially how the sunlight plays on the huge, rough surfaces, with just a few objects that would stick out to cast lines and elongated, elliptical shapes of shadows on their enormous bodies. The few variable elements such as ladders and numbers reappearing on the pieces along with the changing light and shadows, and their constellations with the wooden patterns gives the series a fresh poetic air.
In a spirit of discovery and progress, I ventured into a new field with airbrush paintings after a year of experimenting with pastel powder on velour paper. This latest series represents a synthesis of my core interests with a new technique. Using high-pressure air and pigment-based acrylic paints, I have managed to translate the ephemeral qualities of light and shadow that I so admired in industrial landscapes into a new medium that offers both subtlety and dynamism.
Please also take a look at my website.
Janos was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1971, and has lived in Philadelphia since 2015. A visual artist, primarily a painter, as well as dealing with different forms of printmaking, murals and occasionally participating in interdisciplinary collaborations. Curious, outside-the-box thinker, a visual storyteller and presenter. Persuasive, articulate individual who easily meets people and quickly engenders trust and confidence. Organizer and networker, who quickly oversees and identifies the underlying issues in a complex situation.
2014
Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
DLA (PhD)
2004 - 2005
Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, Austria
(guest semester at the architect-faculty, class of Wolf D. Prix)
2002 - 2005
DLA (PhD) courses in Pécs University Art Department
1998
Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
MFA
1991 - 1992
Art Management School, CASYS, Budapest, Hungary
2014
TerraCycle Residency, Trenton, NJ
2010
Eötvös Grant of the Hungarian State, Studio Residency, New York City, NY
2008
Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy in Rome
1999 – 2001
Derkovits Scholarship of the Ministry of National Cultural Heritage
1996
The Scholarship of the Tóth Menyhért Foundation, Kecskemét, Hungary
Park Towne Place, Museum District, Philadelphia, PA
Irokéz Collection, Szombathely, Hungary
University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
Ernst Museum, Budapest, Hungary
Raiffeisen Bank
Collection of Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Hungary
Neon Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
Lajos Ludman Collection, Budapest, Hungary
Istvan Szentirmay Collection, Budapest, Hungary
Bela Horvath Collection, Budapest, Hungary
Spengler-Somloi Collection, Budapest, Hungary
Peter Szep Collection, Budapest, Hungary
and numerous private collections all over the world
2023
PUBLIC ART PROPOSAL, Janos Korodi reimagines Philadelphia’s rusty tanks as vessels of beauty and community, ROOT QUARTERLY VOL. 5, ISSUE 2, RUST, FALL 2023
2020
PROFILE, Mental States: For painter Janos Korodi, home—and freedom—are in the mind
ROOT QUARTERLY VOL. 2, ISSUE 2, FIGHT, FLIGHt, TEND & BEFRIEND
2016
motion_pictures // Catalogue of the Series / English / ©Janos Korodi
(catalogue)
2015
Genius Loci – Works 2008–2014 // Hungarian–English / ©Neon Gallery, Budapest
(catalogue)
2014
Interferences of Genius Loci and the Universal Laguage of Art // PHD thesis by Janos Korodi, 2014
2013
Cooperman, Marcie, Color: How to Use It textbook, color theory ©Pearson Prentice Hall
2008
Paintings 1994–2008, Hungarian–English, 100p – 94 color plates ©Janos Korodi
2006
DLA Degree Works, Hattyúház, Pécs, University of Pécs
2005
Postillusionism, Wittgenstein-Haus, Wien, Ministry of National Cultural Heritage
(catalogue)
2002
Paintings 1995–2001, Ernst Museum, Dorottya Gallery, Budapest
(catalogue)
2021
Light works Terminal, Létminimum Bázis Budapest, Hungary
2016
Anonymous Landscape, Artworks Trenton, NJ
2014
Speakeasy, Neon Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
with Roland Horváth
2013
Máglya köz, AJAMK, Budapest, Hungary
2011
Eternal Lingering, Neon gallery, Budapest, Hungary
2010
Dumbo Arts Festival, Brooklyn, NY
2009
Secret Reading, Viltin Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
2008
Under Construction, U Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
Joensuu Art Museum, Finland
Hungarian Cultural Institute, Tallin, Estonia
MetaDa: Janos Korodi, ARTI 08, Den Haag, Netherlands
2006
Under Construction, acb Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
Janos Korodi & Luca Korodi, Raiffeisen Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
Tour, with Luca Korodi, New York Palace, Budapest, Hungary
2003
Janos Korodi, Secco Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
2002
Paintings 1995 – 2001, Dorottya Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
We choose yellow rather than bluish-white, with Luca Korodi APA! Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
1999
Selfspreading, UFF Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
20th Century Box, with with András Szigeti, UFF Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
1997
Janos Korodi, Subway Club, Budapest, Hungary
Slamasztika 97’, with Kálmán Ádám, UFF Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
1994
Janos Korodi, Tam-Tam Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
2022
Passages: Arden Bendler Browning and Janos Korodi, miniMAC (miniature Mount Airy Contemporary), Philadelphia, PA
2021
Hidden Threads, Hot+Bed, Philadelphia, PA
Passenger, with Andras Szigeti, Hungarian Cultural Center, Istabul, Turkey
Passenger, with Andras Szigeti, Hezarfen Film Gallery, Architecture Center, Izmir, Turkey
2019
Pattern Burst, Artsy Exclusive, InLiquid, The Yard, Philadelphia, PA
2018
Motion Pictured, DVAA @ International House, Philadelphia, PA
Transformation as Perception, Azavea, Philadelphia, PA
Outside In, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
International Variety – A Works on Paper, James Oliver Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2016
America, The Gallery at Park Towne Place, Philadelphia, PA
2015
Water/Color, Studio Montclair, Montclair, NJ
Art all Night, Trenton, NJ
2014
Art all Night, Trenton, NJ
2012
Group Show, Wallspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
The Trial, Liget Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
2011
Hybridity within the Carpathians, MODEM Centre for Contemporary Art, Debrecen, Hungary
2010
Donumenta, Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg, Germany
2009
Accademia delle Accademie, Tempio di Adriano, Rome, Italy
Spazi Aperti, Romanian Academy, Rome, Italy
2008
9 Hungarian Artists, Erzsebet Square, Gödör Klub, Budapest, Hungary
The New Refutation of Time, The Irokez Collection, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
Stretch it!, Viltin Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
2007
Uncutted Version, Painterly Positions, Ernst-Museum, Budapest, Hungary
Horror Vacui, Selected works from the collection of Katalin Spengler and Zsolt Somlói, Vizivárosi Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
2006
SideMen, 7 Hungarian artists, Körzőgyár, Budapest, Hungary
Bada Dada Memorial, Gallery IX, Budapest, Hungary
Inner Landscape, Octogonart Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
2005
Postillusionism, 4 Hungarian Artists, Wittgenstein-Haus, Wien, Austria
Works of DLA Candidates, Hattyúház, Pécs, Hungary
Personal Space, Hungarian Cultural Institute, Bruxelles, Belgium
Bellevue, Tűzraktár, Budapest, Hungary
Doctor of Liberal Arts, Ernst Museum, Budapest, Hungary
2004
Derkovits Fellows, Hungarian Institute, Sofia, Bulgaria
DLA+DLA, Candidates from PTE and MKE, Barcsay Hall, Budapest, Hungary
The Irokéz Collection–New Acquisitions, Gallery Irokéz, Szombathely, Hungary
2003
Painting Biennal, Väsby Konsthall, Infra Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
Painting Biennal, Infra Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
Bad Boys, Műcsarnok Exhibition Hall, Budapest, Hungary
Works from Candidates at PTE and MKE, Gallery Pécs, Budapest, Hungary
2002
Fresh, Art Mill, Szentendre, Hungary
It’s good everywhere, but the best is at home, MEO, Budapest, Hungary
2001
Introducing The Irokéz Collection, Műcsarnok Exhibition Hall, Budapest, Hungary
Derkovits Fellows, Hungarian Institute Moscow, Russia
2000
Derkovits Fellows, König Albrecht Haus, Leipzig, Germany
Dialogue, Painting on the Millennium, Műcsarnok Exhibition Hall, Budapest, Hungary
Fellows of the Tóth Menyhért Foundation, Cifra Palace, Kecskemét, Hungary
Rotation, X/O Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
1999
Irregular Memory, Szombathely Exhibition Hall, Szombathely, Hungary
1997
Slamasztika 97’, with Kálmán Ádám, UFF Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
1996
”K” as Chimera, Szombathely Exhibition Hall, Szombathely, Hungary
Group Show, Zichy Castle, Budapest, Hungary
1995
Baranyai, Korodi, Uglár, Újlak Exhibition Space, Budapest, Hungary
1994
Group Show, Lajos Vajda Studio, Szentendre, Hungary
